Apple's iPhone 4S Is a Childish Joke in Japan

Nearly two years ago, Steve Jobs and Co. unveiled what would become another massive sales success and a catalyst to a largely dormant industry: the iPad. While everyone debated the features and necessity of this new device, there was also some focus on the name itself.

Though it was only a letter off from an Apple predecessor that conquered an industry, there were more than a few randy jokes about its branding. In fact, Fox's sketch show Mad TV did most of the work for us a few years prior.

Well, nearly two years later, Apple once again finds itself to be the "butt" of a joke.

Arguably the niftiest feature touted in yesterday's iPhone 4S event, Siri allows users to speak commands to their device, and the app responds like a doting assistant. While Google Voice Commands have been doing this for some time, Siri's ability to understand "fuzzy language" puts it ahead.

Too bad the Japanese may not stop giggling to use it.

According to the Next Web, the name "Siri" is quite close to the Japanese word Shiri, which means "buttocks." Yesterday when Apple showed off its Siri -- (snicker!) -- Japanese Twitter users had a field day with the name, causing the kannji symbol for Shiri to become a trending topic.

Making matters worse, when searching for "Siri" on Google Japan, users are asked if they mean "Shiri."